A DIRECTLY-elected mayor could still be created to run Birmingham even though voters overwhelmingly rejected the idea in last week’s referendum, Ministers have revealed.

Cities Minister Greg Clark said he hoped voters in other big cities would be impressed by the performance of elected mayors in Liverpool, Leicester and Bristol – which have all chosen to create mayors.

Birmingham voters rejected plans for an executive mayor, which had the personal backing of David Cameron, voting 57.8 per cent against the idea and 42.2 per cent in favour, in a referendum held on the same day as local elections.

But Mr Clark said Birmingham could change its mind after seeing how successful mayors were elsewhere.

He said: “I think you’ll see this with Bristol, Leicester and Liverpool. People in the cities that have them will wonder why on earth there was any doubt about the desirability of having them, and I think people in other cities will see the advantages.”

The cities that voted against a mayor would be won over once they realised how the others were benefitting, he said.

“Sometimes change happens step by step through demonstration rather than by revolution. And I expect that the big change we have seen, from the situation where London was the only big city with a mayor, to by the end of this year having Liverpool, Leicester, Bristol and London with mayors – I think people will observe how they do, and I expect them to do very well.”

Of ten cities which held referendums last week, Bristol was the only one to vote in favour of a mayor. Liverpool and Leicester have mayors after councillors voted in favour of the idea without holding a referendum. In theory, Birmingham City Council could do the same.

The comments were condemned by Birmingham MP Roger Godsiff (Lab Hall Green), one of the leaders of the victorious campaign against a mayor, who said: “He’s living in a dreamworld.”